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(no subject)

Date: June 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings. Now with 200% more People-Seeking lists!
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities. Now and then around you you might spot paper fluttering in the faint wind from somewhere relatively dry. It looks like a list.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium.

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[that's a very nice sword you have there, Fenris. there's a man in a suit nearby, carrying one of his own at his hip, though his is more of a rapier. he looks the man in armor over - looks like the sort of guy you'd find at renaissance faires, only that's all too real to be makeup.

okay, that's kind of badass. not that he'd outwardly say so. instead, he just raises an eyebrow]

What are you looking for?

[Fenris looks the man up and down, taking in his strange attire. Perhaps he is some kind of jester?]

My companions. I was separated from them when I arrived here.

Mm, so was I. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that we've been brought to another world.

[really, wasn't he listening to the speech when he got brought in?]

[Not even a tiny little bit. It's a miracle his greeter didn't have her heart ripped out of her chest]

I do not understand why they would take only one of us. [Unless this is something to do with the magisters. But Danarius is gone, he shouldn't BE a target any more]

I'm not sure of that either. Maybe the technology can only handle one person at a time, and they're right behind you. So to speak.

The magic, you mean. [There's a great amount of distaste in his voice, but he's pretty certain it's magic that brought him here. What else could it be?]

Magic? [he shakes his head a little, frowning] No, it's, ah, technology, a machine. A little beyond what's capable in my time, but what they had to say held a reasonable amount of water.

[That doesn't make sense] How can a machine transport a being from one world to another? Only magic is that powerful.

[Charles takes a moment to consider that. the woman had said they come from all over, and while, yeah, on a normal day that'd sound like bullshit, he's also recently had to deal with the fact that cult prophecies are apparently a real thing. time to take it with a grain of salt] ... What do they have for machines, where you're from? Computers? Anything like that?

[The look Fenris gives him probably speaks volumes. He couldn't even repeat the word 'computers' back to him, let alone guess what one was]

The dwarves occasionally make lifts, to aid in getting to levels of their mines. [And Varric has Bianca, but Fenris is keeping that one to himself, he's sure the dwarf wouldn't appreciate him spreading that name around]

It is usually things like that.

I see. Well, uh --

[he takes a moment to think. first of all, did he actually say "dwarves"? weird. but the most important thing in the context of conversation is that his tech level sounds pretty much medieval. which is something he can roll with]

-- machines, they're generally powered by electricity, which is essentially lightning. Naturally occurring energy. There's no actual magic to it at all, but it's definitely, ah, very complicated. I can understand how it could look like magic to people who aren't familiar with it.

[no condescension here, Fenris, just straight up It Is What It Is. this is how Charles rolls]

[He appreciates the plain words, honestly. It makes his life far more easier]

Mages can use lighting too.

[Still] How do they harness this energy? To make the machines [he says the word slowly, carefully, testing it out] work?

[he's used to having to use small words around the band - it's kind of his default mode, after all these years]

I'd imagine they could, yes, but electricity can be harnessed in a lot of different ways. The most common is a generator, something that uses the energy naturally created by motion and converts it into electricity. You, ah -

[hmm]

You know how you can use flint and tinder to make a fire? It's something along the same principle but on a bigger scale.

...I understand that. And this...energy can create portals such as the ones that have brought us here?

Yes. It takes a great deal. .... If you're comfortable with the flint metaphor, then think bonfires. Probably several. They have a lot of safety measures to keep it contained, though. The generators are likely underground.

Much like what I have heard of Orzammar. They have lava.

Lava, huh? ... That's ... that's certainly interesting. I could see that having a lot of potential, actually. [note to self: look into lava energy production when he gets back to Mordhaus]

My name's Charles, by the way. Charles Ofdensen.

It has. But I have heard only stories. The only dwarf I am close to is a surfacer.

My name is Fenris.

Well, it's, ah, nice to meet you, Fenris. ... If there's anything else you find that you're not familiar with ... a lot of it is at least somewhat similar to where I'm from. I could try to explain a bit more if you need it.

[he says it with ease, the practiced social skill of a manager accustomed to showing people around - as though he's been here for months, almost, instead of barely an hour]

Why would you wish to aid me? [Yep, instant suspicion on your willingness to help a stranger. That's how they roll in Kirkwall]

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